WW2 British Plastic Cap badges

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WW2 British Plastic Cap badges

Hi Guys, for many years these badges were scorned by collectors. Cheap, nasty things that did not shine... Unpopular with most soliders at the time too. They could be found for a few quid. But the last ten years or so has seen a big change, these are now very collectable to the extent that, surprise, surprise, some of the rarer and ever popular Airborne ones are now being faked.

The historical background to these badges goes back to the dark days of May 1941. Britain was still fighting alone and all materials were in short supply. The Ministry of Supply, who controlled the production of British Industry, was contacted by a plastic moulding company, Alfred Stanly & Co. of Wallsal, who suggested that cap badges could be made from cellulose acetate. They even sent a prototype plastic RAOC cap badge with their letter. The Ministry was interested by their idea and the project was looked into in great detail over the following months. A report from July 1941 estimated that by producing these cap badges in plastic for the following corps; RA, RE, RASC, RS, RAOC, RAMC and ATS a staggering 19.25 tons of brass could be saved in six months!

Several other moulding firms were brought in and consulted on the project over the next months. By Dec 1941 the Army was satisfied with the idea and gave the go ahead, under "Army Council Instruction 2594/41" to produce badges for:

Royal Engineers
Royal Corps of Signals
Royal Army Service Corps
Corps of Military Police
Royal Army Pay Corps
Army Educational Corps (not actually produced in quantity until May 1945; 900 badges made)
Army Dental Corps (Never actually produced)
Pioneer Corps
Intelligence Corps
Recce Corps
Army Catering Corps
Army Physical Training Corps (Rarer to find: Not actually produced until November 1944)

As can be seen from the above list, the Army and MoS were initially interested only in producing badges for larger Corps units as these had more men under the colours.

The introduction of these plastic badges was on a "maintainance only" basis. In other words stocks of metal badges were to be used up first, then plastic would henceforth be issued. Both metal and plastic badges would be worn within a unit and orders given that "change overs" just to ensure uniformity were prohibited. I suspect many an RSM hated this!

By June 1942 a further Army Council Instruction was issued, ACI 1337/42, which detailed that in order to save on metals ALL caps badges, both of Regiments and Corps would now be made from plastic. The only exception being would be if the badge could not be made due to technical problem due to the cap badges design. It was also decided that officers rank badges, both "pips" and crowns, would also be made of the same materials.

Here is a list of the makers involved with plastic badge production in WW2.

Alfred Stanley & Sons Ltd. 10/2/42 to 11/12/45

Fraser & Glass 21/3/42 to 28/11/43

Plastic Fashions 9/4/42 to 30/5/45

Jarret, Rainsford & Laughton Ltd 18/4/42 to 5/8/45

Hopf Products Ltd 28/10/42 to 4/6/46

Combined Opital Industries 26/2/43 to 26/2/45

WH Hassler Ltd 16/7/43 to ???????

Roanoid Plastics (Birmingham) Ltd 20/8/43 to 5/9/45

Mentmore Manufacturing Co. Ltd 15/11/43 to 4/6/46

London Association for the Blind 7/11/44 to 5/9/45

Not all badges were maker marked. The most common marks to find are:

A Stanley & Sons Wallsal

MMMC

F&G (Within in oval)

JRL ltd BHAM

Not only British badges were produced in plastic. Free Polish Forces in the UK were also supplied with their cap badges in plastic. Examples of these can be seen within the Polish sub forum.

Cheers, Ade.

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Re: WW2 British Plastic Cap badges

The RASC badge is the most common example with 977,752 being made and is a good one to start a collection with. With luck these can still be found for under a "tenner".

Maker were: "AS" with 912,752 and "F&G" with 65,000

Note the small brass clips which were bent over to secure the badge to the cap. These were the worst feature of the design, and although they were designed to be bent more than once, with prolonged removal and refitting these could often break. Badges can very often be found with one or both clips missing. This will of course affect the value of a badge. Unless the badge is a rare one, I would personally prefer not to have a damaged badge.

As can be seen on this badge, the makers mark can clearly be seen, as can a mold number, in this case, "2A".

Keeping these badges requires some care. Do not allow them to be exposed to strong sunlight; the badge can often change colour to PINK or even warp and twist out of shape.

Click to enlarge the picture

Attached Images

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Re: WW2 British Plastic Cap badges

Another very common badge to find, this time for the Royal Artillery. I do not have production figures for this badge, but I suspect production was vast? Once again the pictured example is by "Stanley".

These can still be found for a couple of quid and again make a good starting point for a collection. I have seen these for sale by the box load. But like all items, the supply will dry up...

There is also a full size "RA" cap badge of the design which features the gun. These are rare and command big bucks! These are now copied so beware of these

Click to enlarge the picture

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